Towel-dispensing machine



Oef. 6, 19254 mums 1,556,541 J. M. PERRY TOWEL DISPENS ING MACHINE Filed oct, 50. y1922 sheets-Sheet l www . u 11mm Guan,

ou. 6,1925. l 1,556,541

v J. M. PERRY TOWEL DISPENSING MACHINE Filed Oct. 3O. 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 aucun ocr. 6,1925 1,556,541

. v J. Mv. PERRY TOWEL DISPENSXNG MACHINE Filed oct. so. 1922 :sheets-sheet Maggi-uuu@ llwmmm ij 4 1 lli gnuemfoc Patented Oct. 6, 1925.

JOHN M. PERRY, OF VOSBURG, MISSISSIPPL TOWEL-DISPENSING MACHINE.

Application led October 30, 1922*l Serial No. 597,841;

To all zii/0m t may concern:

Be it kno-wn that l, JOHN M. PERRY, a citizen Vof the United States, residing .at Vosburg, in the county of Jasper, State of lilississippii, have invented certain. new and useful Improvements in Towel-Dispensing Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such asl will enable others skilled in the art to Awhich it appertains to make and use the same. l Y,

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in dispensing machines and particularly to machines for dispensing clean towels. v l

One object of the invention is' to provide a device of this character which includes ineansvfor containing a plurality of clean towels and which means is movable,VV in a s tep-by-step fashion tov present the individual towels opposite a delivery opening,-

through which the towel is drawn, and

means forsupporting the towel, after being used, so that it cannot be taken away.

Another object is to provide a device of thisfcharacter which includes novel means for releasing the-step-by-step mechanism, to permit. the towel carrier to be easily Areset into initial kor starting position,

Other objeots and advantages ,will be apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings In the. drawings: p y. t

Figure 1 is a front elevation of `a towel dispensing machine made in accordance with the invention, and showing a used towel externally of theeabinet.

Figure 2 isa rear elevation of the cabinet, with the back thereof removed. i

Figure 3 is a vertical central sectional view on the line.3- 3 of Figure 1.` y

Figure il is a side elevation of the device, partly broken away to show the engaging tin-gers of the rock shafts. y f

Referring particularly tothe accompanying drawings, 10 Arepresents a cabinet of suitable material andproportions andxhaving a hinged door 11 covering the front thereof. Secured lto the oppositey sides of the cabinet, and on the inner faces thereof,l

are the vertical pairs Lof parallel guide tracks 12, between which thevv vertical marginal edges of the back board 13, of the carrier 1l, slide. Supported on thefront face of this board 1,3, and extending forwardly.

therefrom in 'horizontal planes, and in superimposed relation,vare the towel containing ltrays or shelves 15. Formed in the int-ermediate'portion of the door 11, and transversely thereof, is la slot 16, the same being so positioned that the trays 15 stop opposite thereof to permit a person withdrawing the towel on such tray. The upper portion of the door 1l contains a glass panel 17' through which the trays of clean towels may be seen, while the lower portion, or that portion below the slot 16, is opaque as shown at 18. Secured to and 'extending vertically on the cen-ter` of the back board 13 of the carrier, is a toothed rack bar 1.8. At one end of the slot 16 there is formed a short slot l19, in the side wall of the cabinet, Yand mounted in this slot, and extending horizontally at right angles from the sideof they cabinet, is an arm 20. Secured to the ylower face of the topk wall of the cabinet, over one end of the carrier 14, is a bracket 21, in which is removably supported the upper end of a meta-l bar. 22, said bar extend'- ing vdownwardly and yhaving secured to its lower end a cord V23. ThisA cord is disposed through an eyelet 24 formed in on'ecorner of each of thetowels, and extends outwardly through the slot'19, along the upperv face of the arm 20, and depends from the end thereof, where it is provided with a padlock 24. This bar 22, when removed Vfrom the bracket 21, facilitates the passage of the cord through the eyelets of the towels, prior to the disposition of the towels vin the trays of the carrier.

lVhile I have shown a cord, it will readily be understood that wire, chain, or the like flexible element may be used.

, Extending transversely of the cabinet, and rearwardly of the carrierlll, with their ends yjournaled in the sides of the cabinet, are the rock shafts 25 and 26. Corresponding ends lof the shaftsl 25 and 26 extend beyond the side of the cabinetl and into a housing 27, mountedvon said side. On the ends of the shafts 25 and 26, within the housing 27, there are mounted ,the fingers 28 and 29, respectively. On rthe shaft 25, outwardly of the housing, there is secured a radially extending lever 30, which is grasped by the prospe'ctive user of a towel, to rock the shaft, and in so doing the finger 28 of the shaft engages with the finger 29 of the shaft 26, and rocks the same. -On the intermediate portion of the shaft 26, within the cabinet,

is a block 31, and mounted on the upper and lower faces of this block aie the detents 32 and 33, respectively, the former being mounted to swing in a horizontal plane on the upper face of the block, while the latter is mounted to swing in a horizontal plane on the lower face of the block. On the end port-ions of the shaft 26, within the cabinet, there are fixed the radial arms 34 and 35, and connected at its opposite ends to the arm 35 and to one of the vertical guides 12, is a coil. spring 36 which normally rocks the shaft to maintain the upper detent in engagement with a tooth of the rack bar 18, and thereby maintain the carrier in position to present a single tray opposite the delivery opening 16. Mounted on the rear guides 12, and extending transversely of the cabinet, is a frame 37 having the upper and lower guides 38 for the transversely slidable, and vertically disposed plate 39. In the upper and lower portions of this plate 39 are formed the slots 40 through which the detents 32 and 33 pass to engage with the rack bar 18, said plate maintaining the detents against horizontal pivotal movement, under normal conditions, that is while the machine is in position for use. `Connected to one end of the plate 39, and to the adyacent side wall of the cabinet, is a coil spring` 41, exert ing force to maintain the plate in detent holding position. A cord or wire 42 is connected to the other end of the plate and'eX- tends through the other side of the cabinet and into a small housing 43, mounted on the outer face of that side of the cabinet, where the cord or wire is provided with a hand grip 44, adapted to be grasped to pull the plate 39 against the tension of the spring 41, and thereby move the detents out of engagement with the rack bar, with the result that the cariier may be easily and quickly lifted to its uppermost or starting position. The arm 34 is provided with an adjusting screw 45 which bears against the said frame 37, to limit the rocking movement of the shaft 26, so that the upper detent 32 will be withdrawn from the rack bar and the lower detent 33 moved inwardly into engagement with a tooth therebelow. Thus, as the shaft 26 is rocked back and forth, the detents will act as an escapement to let the carrier down by a step-by-step movement, and present a towel tray opposite the slot 16, at each step. t will be noted that each of the housings 27 and is provided with a door 45a.

rlhe opposite ends of the shaft 25, within the cabinet, are provided with the radial arms 46 and 47, to the former of which is connected one end of a spring 48, the other end of said spring being secured to the frame 37, for rocking the shaft into normal position. rIhe other arm 47 has an adjusting stop screw 49 which is arranged to engage wth a block 50, secured to the adj acent' side wall of the cabinet to limit the rocking movement of the shaft.

The prospective user of a towel grasps the lever 30 and swings the same which causes the linger of the shaft 25 to engage the finger of the shaft 26 and rock the latter shaft, with the result that the escapement is actuated to permit the carrier to drop to present a tray opposite the slot 16, when the person reaches in and pulls the towel from the tray. lVVhen the towel has been used, the user moves the towel toward the left, through the slot 19, along the cord 23, until the eyelet is stopped by the padlock. The empty tray remains opposite the opening 16, until another person moves the lever 30, which causes the dropping of the carrier an-v other notch, presenting the neXt tray containing a towel.

lV hen all of the towels have been used and are disposed on the cord, along the arm 20, the owner of the cabinet removes the back of the cabinet, opens the door of the small housing 43, pulls the wire 42, and pulls the plate 39. The movementof the plate 39 causes the lateral swinging movement of the detents out of engagement with the rack bar 18, when the carrier may be lifted to its uppermost position, and retained in such position, upon release of the wire 42. The padlock is then opened and th-e soiled towels removed from the cord, and a new set of clean towels threaded onto the cord, by removing the bar 22 from the bracket 21, and passing the same through the eyelets of the towels. The folded towels are then placed in th-e individual trays, and the cord permitted to extend vertically through the notches 51, formed in the ends of the trays.

Formed in the outer end of the finger 28 there is formed a. slot or kerf 52, and around the end of the finger is secured a band 53. Mounted on the side of the cabinet, and proj ectingupwardly through the upper wall of the housing 27, is a chute 54, the lower end of which is disposed over the kerfed end 52 of the finger 28, in position to discharge a coil, which has been placed in the upper end of the chute, in the said kerf. It will be noted that the finger 28 is not quite long enough to reach the linger 29, but when a coin is disposed within the kerf, the outer edge of the coin will engage with the finger 29, and move the latter to accomplish the rocking of the shaft 26. Thus the operation of the machine, to dispose the carrier with a towel carryingY tray opposite the delivery opening 16, depends on the presence of a coin in the linger 28. After the coin has moved the linger 29, the coin falls into the housing 27, to be removed when the towels have been removed and appear on the cord 23.

What is claimed is:

1. A towel dispensing machine including a cabinet and a towel carrying carrier movably supported in the cabinet, a rack carried by the carrier, detents engageable with the rack, a guiding means receiving slidably therethrough the detents, and means for moving the guiding means whereby to move the said detents out of the path of the rack.

2. A towel dispensing machine including a cabinet and a towel carrying carrier movably supported in the cabinet, a rack carried by the carrier, a rock shaft, detents carried by saidv shaft and movable into and out of engage- Vmen-t with the teeth of the rack, a slidable guide plate mounted adjacent the rack and receiving the detents slidably therethrough, means for holding the plate normally to guide the detents into engagement with the rack and means for moving the plate to carry the detents out of the path of the rack to permit the resettting of the carrier.

3. A towel dispensing machine including a cabinet and a towel carrying carrier movably supported in the cabinet, a track carried by the carrier, a rock shaft, an escapement on the rock shaft including detents succes- Sively engageable with the teeth of the rack, a slidable plat-e mounted adjacent the escapement and having slots receiving the detents therethrough, a spring for holding the plate normally to guide the detents into engagement with the rack, and means for moving the plate to release the detents from the rack to permit the resetting of the carrier.

In testimony whereof, I affix' my signas ture.

JNO. M. PERRY. 

